Device for straightening hair



Oct. 14, 1941. w. BROWN ETAL DEVICE FOR STRAIGHTENING- HAIR Filed June22, 1940 INVENT OR.

patented ()ct. l4, i941 luo Application June 22, 1940, Serial No.341,902

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved device for straighteninghair and more particularly to a device of this character having anelectric heating unit to supply heat to theironing element.

One object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich will be simple in construction, durable and easily operated,

Another object is to provide an electrically heated device which can beplugged into the outlets of regular house wiring, without danger ofover-heating the ironing element or burning out the heating unit.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate any possibiilty ofburning the scalp of the person whose hair is being straightened.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedheating unit, which will supply a definite amount of heat to the ironingelement and which has provision for the radiation of all excess heat.

The invention, therefore, consists of the features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described in the specification,particularly pointed out in the claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is an elevational View ofa hair straightener embodying our invention, Fig. 2 is a centrallongitudinal view, Fig. 3 is a section on line 33, Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is asection on line 44, Fig. 2, Figs. 5, 6, '7, and 8 are perspective viewsof the sections which together form the support for the heating wire.

The device, in general, comprises a body or frame portion whichresembles a pair of tongs consisting of crossed members which arepivoted together in the usual manner. The members, respectively,comprise a handle portion l and an arm portion H and a handle portion l2and an arm portion [3, The connecting pivot is shown at I4. The handleportions are provided with bails, I5 and I6, respectively, which enablethe device to be held open to receive the hair.

The arm portion ll, of the upper member, has mounted thereon arelatively wide plate H which forms the bottom of the casing 19 for theheating unit. The forward end of the plate I! carries a relatively largehead portion H, which we may term the ironing element. This ironingelement I7 is made of a solid block of metal of sufiicient size toprevent over-heating and has a smooth, flat bottom surface, which liesbelow the also has an upstanding shoulder portion H which forms theforward end wall of the casing for receiving the heating unit.

On the end of the arm I3 is formed a flat head I 8, which constitutesthe presser plate over which the hair may be laid or stretched out. Thepresser plate [8 is made relatively thin, so that th hair can be engagedclose to the roots. The arrangement is such that when the arms H and i3are brought together, the bottom surface of the ironing element and theupper surface of the presser element will clamp against each other.

The heat unit comprises a plurality of small sections or blocks made ofnon-conductive, refractory material. Each block comprises a pair of sideplates 20, a centrally arranged web portion 2| and an intermediatepartition 22. Each block, therefore, provides four open sided channelsfor the reception of the resistance wire.

Thes sections are arranged on the plate ll end to end and in placingthem the sections are alternately reversed, that is the section nearestthe ironing element has the channels facing toward the top of the casingand toward the bottom of the casing and the next section has thechannels facing toward th sides of the casing, and so on alternately.

The assembled sections form the core of the heating unit and it will beunderstood that when the sections are assembled, the four short channelsof the respective blocks together form four long channels extending thefull length of the core, which taken together form one continuousconduit for the reception of the resistance wire, It will be noted thatdue to the method of assembling the sections, what we may term the outerfaces of the conduit will have open spaces and closed spaces. These openspaces permit direct radiation of heat from the resistanc wire and asthey face upwardly and downwardly and sidewise the heat is distributedover the entire surface of the enclosing casing of the heating unit.This eliminates any danger of the operator receiving a burn from contactwith an excessively hot part of the casing. The closed spaces, that iswhere the walls of the sections intervene between the open radiatingspaces, provide bars which look the resistance wire in the conduit andprevent it from buckling, thereby increasing th life of the element.

The resistance wire, shown at 28, is fed in at the rear end of the coreand is carried forward and backward on one side of the core, thenthrough the core and forward and backward on plan of the arm II. Theironing element ll the opposite side of the core. The ends of theresistance wire are connected to the service wires 29, in the terminalblock 21. Clamping blocks 24 and 25 are arranged at the ends of the coreto hold the core sections together and are held in place by screws 26.

The employment of our device will be understood readily.

The ironing element due to its relatively large size and theconstruction of the heating unit will not readily get over-heated and ifdesired the electricity may be shut 01f and the ironing element willremain sufliciently hot for some time. The presser plate whil being usedwill only receive heat through its contact with the ironing element andwill seldom become appreciably heated, and therefore can be placed closeto the scalp at the roots of the hair. The hair is drawn over thepresser plate and the presser plate and ironing element are pressedclosely together and movement is imparted to the device so as to ironthe hair from the roots to the outer ends thereof. 7 7

What we claim:

1. A device for straightening hair, comprising a pair of crossed memberspivoted together, each member consisting of a handle portion and an armportion, the arm portion of one member carrying a fiat head forming apresser plate, and

the arm portion of the other member carrying a large head forming anironing element, an ele'c-' tric heating unit comprising a plurality ofsections, each section having four open channels, the sections beingarranged end to end and alternately reversed and together providing acontinuous conduit for the resistance wire and resistance wire arrangedin said conduit.

2. A device for straightening hair, comprising a pair of crossed memberspivoted together, each member consisting of a handle portion and an armportion, the arm portion of one member carrying a fiat head forming apresser plate and the arm of the other member carrying a large headforming an ironing element and an electric heating unit comprising acasing and a core arranged in said casing, said core having a conduitextending along both sides thereof, said conduit having open spaces fordirect heat radiation and closed spaces to prevent buckling of theresistance wire and resistance wire arranged in said conduit, theconduit being sectional, each section having open channels withalternate sections rotated, so as to hold a resistor againstdisplacement.

WALTER BROWN. LILLIAN B. BROWN.

